


End of the Race

by K_Hanna_Korossy



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 08:16:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5861149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_Hanna_Korossy/pseuds/K_Hanna_Korossy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tag to "The Fifth Race." Jack's got quite a story to tell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	End of the Race

First published in  _Redemption 8_ (2009)

 

Jack made it as far as the hallway outside the gateroom.

Daniel, hovering near his side, trying not ask the questions he was dying to ask, realized first that Jack’s wobble was turning into a serious list, and put out a hand to steady him again. A second later he found himself staggering under the weight of an unconscious Jack O’Neill.

Sam helped him get Jack down to the floor without serious bodily injury to either of them, and Janet soon appeared with a stretcher to whisk Jack away. But Daniel kept a hand on his friend’s shoulder throughout, just in case.

Jack didn’t even stir as Janet ran her tests, and announced to them what Daniel had already suspected: Jack was sleeping, not comatose, not even injured. Exhausted was the word Fraiser used, and none of them were really surprised. Having your brain filled up and then emptied through some means they even understand yet sounded pretty exhausting. Janet tucked him into a bed to let him sleep it off, Hammond resigned himself to a delayed briefing, and Teal’c withdrew to meditate. Even Sam, still suffering some of the effects of heat exhaustion earlier that day, finally said she was going to take a nap until the briefing.

Which left Daniel sitting in the quiet of the infirmary yet again with an unconscious Jack. Daniel sighed, wondering exactly when hospital vigils had become a normal part of his life, then snagged a chair and made himself comfortable.

“They gone yet?”

Daniel’s head jerked up. Jack’s eyes were still closed, his body motionless as ever, but he could have sworn…

One eye opened, squinting. “Daniel?”

“Uh, yeah.” He abandoned the chair and crept forward with disbelief. “I’m here. I thought you were—”

“Asleep?” Jack’s eyes were shut again, but his mouth crinkled into a grin. “I was—am—sorta. Don’t tell anyone.”

“Riiight.” He eyed O’Neill, who really did look asleep. “Can I get you anything?”

One hand lifted to rub closed eyes. “A beer would be nice.”

Daniel looked around, and stepped toward a nearby bedside tray with the ubiquitous plastic pitcher and cups on it. “How about some water?”

“A beer would be nice.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “You’re gonna have to wake up for that.”

A beat. “Water sounds good.”

He found a bendy straw and managed to give Jack a drink without drenching either of them. Considering he was verging on exhaustion, too, it was a minor feat.

Jack yawned, and gave him a bleary glance with both eyes this time. “So, what happened?”

Daniel sat back down, but scooted his chair forward. “Actually, I was going to ask you that.”

“I just woke up, Daniel.”

He made a face. “Fine. You collapsed outside the gateroom, they brought you down here, Janet ran some tests, and it looks like your brain’s empty again.”

Jack glared at him. “You had to say it, didn’t you.”

Daniel smiled innocently. “Anyway, I guess whatever you did worked, so…you want to tell me what happened out there? Did you meet the Ancients?”

“Actually, I think I met Thor.”

Daniel leaned forward. “Really?”

A hand waved vaguely in the air. “Well…once you’ve seen one skinny little naked gray guy, you’ve seen ’em all, but it was either Thor or one of his cousins.”

“Did they say something? What did they do?” Daniel was going to tip off his chair if he leaned any closer but he didn’t much care.

“Yeah, they spoke English. Kinda a Midwestern accent, actually. Ohio, maybe.”            

“And…” Daniel prodded.

Jack’s hand had moved on to rub his forehead. “And…one of ’em touched me and all the extra…stuff in my head was gone.”

Watching the motion, Daniel wondered again if there were any residual effects to having your brain filled up and then emptied. At the very least there were a few lines of pain around Jack’s eyes. “You want me to get you some aspirin?” he asked softly.

As if he’d just realized what he was doing, Jack’s arm fell back to the bed and he shook his head. “It’s fine, just a headache. Aliens messing with my head always does that to me.” He pried his eyes open and gave Daniel a smile that was sloppy with fatigue. “You know all those stories about grays abducting people and doing experiments on ’em? They’re true.”

Daniel blinked. “They told you—”

“They said they’d been studying us for a while now. Hey, bet you didn’t know we have ‘great potential’!”

“That’s—”

“And I’m a lot more ‘advanced’ than they expected,” Jack added smugly.

Daniel narrowed his eyes. “You’re making this up.”

Jack looked wounded. “Would I lie to you?”

“Yes, actually.”

It was Jack’s turn to roll his eyes.

Daniel shifted in the chair. “So, was that it? Did they say anything about the Ancients?”

“Oh, you know…” Another grandiose wave of the hand.

“No, actually, I don’t.”

Jack squeezed his eyes shut. “Uh…four great races, yadda, yadda, yadda…Nox, Asgard, the…Furlings, and the Ancients. We might end up being the fifth race.”

Daniel gaped at that. “Thor said that?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Cool, huh?” The grin was pure kid.

“Yeah, that would be…wow.”

“Uh-huh.” Jack stirred on the bed, wincing. “So, any news on the homefront? How’s Carter?”

“Uh, a little sunburned but okay, thanks to you. I think she’s ready to frame those schematics you drew. The engineers are still trying to figure out that power…pack thing you built, the physics crew got hold of the equation you wrote and pretty much haven’t come out of the room since, and the linguists are still working on that inscription and your oral renderings. I think you’ll be getting a lot of questions you can’t answer for the next few weeks.”

Jack groaned, digging the heel of his hand into his eyes. “Swell.” His hand lowered and he pinned Daniel with his gaze. “So why aren’t you down there drooling over that stuff, too?”

Daniel shrugged. “It’ll still be there. I wanted to hear about where you were.”

Jack stared at him sleepily, opaquely for a long minute. “Hey, about your staying with me while I had all that…” His hand spun a loose circle by his head. “I appreciate it, thanks.”

“Well, I couldn’t just…”

“I know.”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Right.”

“I mean, who else ever understands what you’re saying, right?”

“Hey!”

“But,” Daniel smiled, “you’re welcome.”

Jack gave him a grudging look and settled back down into bed. His eyes slowly sank shut again. “Think maybe I’ll…sleep a little more.”

“Okay, you do that,” Daniel said quietly. Jack really did look worn out, for all his joking. “I’ll just, uh…I’ll be here if you need anything, okay?” He could always send for some work from his office, or maybe he’d just put his feet up and nap for a bit, too. Daniel’s promise had been filled, but his place was still here for now, with his friend.

Jack smiled, half-asleep. “Yeah, I know. We gotta get you a life, Jackson…” He fell asleep quickly, as both old soldiers and the exhausted tended to do.

Daniel shook his head. As if he didn’t already love the life he had. And Jack knew it.

Those poor Asgard, Daniel smiled ruefully as he made himself comfortable in the chair. They had no idea what they were getting into.

The End


End file.
